Skip to content

Fortune Favors the Prepared

Semper Paratus, Semper Gumby

Menu
MENUMENU
  • Boomer
    • Day 1 – The Journey Home
    • Day 2 – First Day in the New Home
    • Day 3 – More Training
    • Day 4 – Dad Goes Back to Work
    • Day 5 – A Day at Home with More Training with Dad (Boomer’s version)
    • Day 6 – More Training with Dad at Home
    • Day 7 – Dad Goes Back to Work, Boring Day
  • About
        • The Why
        • Vision and Mission
        • Services
          • Business Resiliency
        • Testimonials
  • Communications
        • Stump Knocker
          • SOI
          • STUMP KNOCKER DMR UPDATES
          • MMDVM Hotspot
        • Family or Group Communications Plans
          • Communications Options
          • Communications P.A.C.E.
          • Communications Resiliency
          • Finding Information for Your Communications Plan
          • Communications Plan Annex
          • SHTF HF Communications
        • Communications Security (COMSEC)
          • Communications Security (COMSEC)
          • Book Cipher
          • One Time Pads (OTP)
          • One Time Pads (OTP) Live Video
          • One Time Pad Training
          • Decrypting One Time Pad Message
        • MESSAGE HANDLING
          • Phonetics
          • Procedure Words (Prowords)
          • Date Time Group (DTG)
          • NTS Radiogram Form
            • ARL Numbered Radiograms
          • Formatted Messages
        • Personal Radio Services
          • FCC Rules for Personal Radio Services
          • Family Radio Service (FRS)
          • General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS)
            • GMRS Repeaters
            • Getting a GMRS License
          • Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS)
        • Other Radio Services
          • Cell Sites and Their Services
          • Radio over LTE and Rapid Radios
          • Communications Continuity Programs and Capabilities
          • Satellite Communications
        • Wired Communications
          • MAG Phone System
        • Baofeng/BTECH Radios Quick Guide
          • Manually Programming a Baofeng Radio – Video
          • A User’s User Manual for Baofeng Radios
        • Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) Networks
          • WR3IRS Interstate DMR Network
            • South Central PA (SC PA)
            • North East PA (NE PA)
            • Washington-Baltimore (W-B)
            • West Central Florida (WCF)
          • Florida Digital Amateur Radio Network (F-DARN)
          • Southeast Florida DMR Repeater Network W2GGI
          • Virginia DMR (DMRVA)
          • NC PRN DMR Network
          • SC Hospital Emergency Amateur Radio Team (SCHEART)
          • HEARS – Hospital Emergency Amateur Radio System
          • New England Digital Emergency Communications Network (NEDECN)
        • DMR Programming
          • DMR Programming – Talk Groups
          • DMR Programming - Roaming
          • MMDVM and Yaesu System Fusion (YSF)
          • Encryption in DMR Radios
        • Amateur (HAM) Radio
          • Why Do I Need a Ham License?
          • How to Obtain Your Amateur Radio License
            • Amateur Radio Learning Resources
            • Finding a Ham Exam
            • HAM Exam Accommodation
            • Getting Into Ham Radio – Video
          • Why You Should Upgrade to a General Ham License
          • What Radio to Buy?
            • What Radio to Buy? – video
            • Live – What Radio to Buy?
          • Ham Radio on a Budget
          • Portable Radio Kit
          • Mobile Communications
          • HF Communications
            • Simple Antenna Builds for HF – video
        • Communications Knowledge Library
          • Communications Resiliency
          • Analog versus Digital
          • CTCSS and DCS
          • Radio Etiquette, Jargon, and Best Practices
          • Are You Expired?
          • Programming Radios with Software
          • AmRRON RESOURCES & REFERENCES
        • COMMUNICATIONS REFERENCES
          • Anytone Programmable Keys
          • Phonetics
          • FRS / GMRS / MURS Frequency Card
          • HAM Simplex Frequency Card
          • CB Frequency Card
          • COMMUNICATIONS RESOURCES – pdf download
  • Insider
  • Blog
    • Mountain Readiness Fallout Workshops
    • Mapping DMR Repeaters
    • COMMUNICATIONS RESILIENCY
    • Getting The Message Through
    • What are you preparing for?
    • Never Let an Opportunity Go To Waste
    • Consequences
    • DO NOT REPLY
    • Space Weather Warning
    • Good, and Sad, News
    • Necessity vs. Luxury
    • Don’t Put off Until Tomorrow
    • No Plan Survives First Contact
    • Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA)
    • Live – What Radio to Buy?
    • Big Daddy Unlimited Affiliate
    • Food – Tue 16th 7pm MST
    • Live from 2021-2-3
    • Live 2021-01-26
    • FLASH SALE
    • Live 2021-01-11
    • What Is Freedom?
    • Preparedness for Pets
    • What If The Lights Go Out?
    • Hoarding or Prepping?
    • Why Do I Need a Ham License?
    • How Bad is the SolarWinds Orion Issue?
    • How To Begin Prepping
    • Members Only Live Videos
    • Live 11/24
    • Ham Radio VoIP Phone
    • Training Calendar
    • A Chat (with some whisky)
    • Blog 2020 11 02
    • Live with Charlie Hogwood
    • EARTH EX 2020
    • A Live with Angery American
    • Have You Woken Up Yet?
    • BUG OUT READY
    • The Gray Man
    • Area Intelligence – Now!
    • Being Prepared for Civil Unrest
    • It Depends
    • The Art of Being Prepared – The New Prepper
    • Get Home versus Bug Out Bags
    • Why You Need an IFAK AND Training
  • Book of Knowledge
        • Threat Assessment
          • Area Intelligence
          • Being Prepared for Civil Unrest
            • Civil Unrest – Area Intelligence
            • Civil Unrest – Be Prepared
            • Civil Unrest – Defense
            • Civil Unrest – Defense (part 2)
          • Weather Awareness
        • Intelligence
          • The Gray Man
          • Community Intelligence
            • Area Intelligence – Now!
          • Operations Security (OPSEC)
          • Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) – the basics
          • Signals Intelligence – Information Gathering Basics
          • Communications Intelligence (COMINT)
            • Short Wave Scanning
            • Communications Continuity Programs and Capabilities
            • State Emergency Capability Using Radio Effectively (Operation SECURE)
            • Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS)
          • Electronic Counter-Surveillance
        • Medical
          • Immediate Care – Rapid Assessment
          • Medical Kits
            • Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK)
            • BooBoo and IFAK Kits Video
            • BooBoo & IFAK Kit Mind Map
            • Large Kit
          • Medical Myths
            • Medical Myths – Tampons
            • Medical Myths – Ingested Poisoning
          • MEDICAL REFERENCES
        • Food
          • Why You Should Start a Food Storage Plan
          • Food Storage Quick Start
          • Buying in Bulk
          • FOOD PRESERVATION RESOURCES
        • Power
          • UPS
        • Water
        • Bags etc.
          • Bug Out versus Get Home Bags
          • Get Home Bag – Contents
            • Get Home Bag – video
            • Get Home and Bug Out Bags - video from live 2-10
        • Navigation & Signalling
          • Sketched Strip Map
          • Emergency Signaling
        • Animals
          • Preparedness for Pets
        • Transportation
          • Transportation Plan B
          • Improvised Transportation
          • Preparedness For Winter Travel
  • Planning
        • Family Emergency Plan – The Basics
          • Family Emergency Plan
            • Family Emergency Planning Form
        • Family Contingency Binder
          • Family Contingency Binder MindMap
        • Triggers
          • Preparedness Conditions – PREP-CON
            • Preparedness Conditions (PREP-CON) MindMap
          • Space Weather
        • Inventory Tracking
        • Planning Your Preps
          • Charity in Planning
        • Mutual Assistance Group
  • Resources
        • Training
          • Training Videos
          • One Time Pad (OTP) Exercises
            • 45662
            • 222135ZDEC22
        • MEDICAL REFERENCES
        • COMMUNICATIONS REFERENCES
          • Communications Continuity Programs and Capabilities
        • COMMUNICATIONS RESOURCES – pdf download
        • FOOD PRESERVATION RESOURCES
        • Amateur Radio Learning Resources
        • General Resources
        • AmRRON RESOURCES & REFERENCES
        • Amateur Radio Colorado
          • Colorado Linked Repeater Systems
  • Friends
        • Angery American
        • Signal Stuff
        • Bullets Both Ways
        • Forward Observer
        • Optima Batteries
        • Colorado Ready
        • Patriot Volunteer Examiner (VE) Team
        • The Patriot Outpost
  • Shop
  • Contact
    • Mailing List
Menu

Inventory Tracking

While this article was originally written to address food storage the principles apply to any and all of our preparedness supplies.

If you have already started a food storage program then you probably know that after a short time you lose track of what you have, what expires when, and what you need to get.  Heck, most of us, if we don’t go to the store with a shopping list, forget at least one item – some of us forget what we go into another room for!  Others, especially if you go to one of the bulk stores, come out with more than we planned to get!  Well, one is none right?   At least that what we tell our significant other when we come home from the gun show with two new guns ?

There are a lot of different ways to keep inventory.  You need to figure out what information you want to keep track of.  Some of this is going to depend on the types of food you store.  For example; do you have all pre-packaged food, do you buy bulk and repack into your own mylar bags, do you use all the same size bags or different ones, do you can your own foods?  You obviously want to be able to quickly see how much inventory you have of an item.

Note Book or Binder

Your inventory system can be as simple as a note book, perhaps with a page for each type of food, a column for when you add something, and the expiration date, or expected shelf life.  You could use a 3-ring binder with tabs, which makes it easy to add pages as it fills up. Obviously the larger your inventory the more difficult, or at least labor intensive, this is to start.  If you have supplies at different locations you want to keep track of what is where, so this adds another layer of complexity to your organization.

Excel Spread Sheets

Another method is to use a spread sheet, such as Excel.  If you have a basic understanding of Excel it is easy to create a column for a different packaging, date packaged, expected expiration, etc.  A simple formula can keep your total inventory, using a negative number when you use a package.  You could use a tab for different categories of items, such as grains, beans, legumes, etc.  You could use another tab for each different location or use a column in the current sheet, which would give you total supplies by location within each tab.  The advantage with an Excel spread sheet is that you can incorporate it with a goal list of items (different food types, etc.) based on some of the recommended quantities you can find on sites like Provident Living and Survival Mom, most of which are based on recommendations from The Church of Latter-Day Saints.

There are some ready-made spread sheet inventory programs in Excel available on the web at such sites like Prepared Housewives (has a review of a number of different spread sheet inventory programs) and Seniors Mess.  The advantage is that someone has done the development work for you, the disadvantage is that it’s someone else’s way to inventory.  If you have a basic understanding of Excel I’d encourage you to look at how other people are doing it, see if you like it, or take the ideas that you like and make your own.  This has advantages especially if you can food as most of the ones I’ve seen don’t account for canning or gardens. 

The list at Food Storage Made Easy is premised on a 3-month supply and recipes. It shows how much you have and how much you need.  It doesn’t appear to account for expiration dates or different storage locations.  They have another spread sheet at http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/babysteps/step-4-long-term-food-storage-planning/  that is designed for long term storage.

Obviously, you should print out your sheets and put them in a binder, so you have a hard copy.  If you have different locations, then you should have a copy of what is at each location at that location.

Out of the Box Solutions

There are a number of inventory programs on the market, most are designed for restaurant inventory’s.  These is one that I’ve found that was designed for personal preparedness, Survival Stores by www.419systems.com.  From what I understand the program was originally designed to encourage people to create a family emergency plan.  The program comes with a basic database of supplies and categories.  You can add to this.  The program allows you to create an item together with it’s expiration.  You can also add a new item as you are adding it to inventory.  You can add multiple locations and indicate when various quantities of each item are stored, whether various locations in your house, or different locations.  The program also allows you to use a bar code scanner, which you can find one on Amazon and similar stores for about $25.  You scan the items bar code in the inventory database and thereon you can scan an item to add to inventory.  You can also save a picture in the inventory database.  The program also runs off a USB, so you are not limited to a single computer installation.  There is the ability to print inventories but I’m a little disappointed with that feature of the program, it could use some work, such as a csv output format.  However, for only $35 it’s not bad.  When you first get the program you do need to take some time to figure out how the various databases and lists work together, then how you want to list items and create the item database before you start adding inventory.

One of the first things you need to modify or update are the basic database lists, seen in the drop down box, such as address types, list types, location types.

I’ve only used this program for about 12 months but I do have some friends how have used this program for a number of years.  If you spend a little time setting it up before you start inventorying it’s a useful way to keep track of a large quantity of supplies, when you stored them, their storage life and where you have them stored.

Then you update item types.  Such as; canning supplies, medical, books, etc.

Then each one of the item types can have sub types.

I point these out because if you don’t give some thought to this before you start adding items you can create yourself a mess which takes some work to undo (yup I learnt the hard way!).

I would STRONGLY recommend NOT using any app on your smart phone to maintain an inventory with.

It’s Not Just Beans

While we are primarily talking about tracking inventory for food we should remember there are other items a good prepper should have in stock, such as fuel, toilet paper, batteries, candles, toilet paper, hands tools, first aid and medical supplies, toilet paper, radios, seeds, ammunition and toilet paper, etc.

We should have a list of the quantities of each we think we should have and what we have. 

I’m working on an Excel inventory tracking program and I’ll share with Patrons once it is finished.

Groups

If you are part of a group you might have individual inventories or you might have a couple of people who are your ‘logistics specialists’ who keep a master inventory, or an inventory of group items, like large water filtration systems, generators, solar kits, group kitchen/cooking equipment, etc.

Final Thoughts

If you are serious about being prepared you need to know what you need, you also need to know what you have, otherwise you don’t know what you need to get.  Keeping an inventory should be part of your preparedness planning so you can be smart at what you buy and need.

I served 7 years on an Incident Management Team in the logistics section. I’m an instructor for the FMEA Logistics Section Chief as well as the Supply Unit Leader programs. I’m in the process of writing another article on logistics and tracking supplies and equipment.

Remember, Fortune Favors the Prepared

Login with Patreon

Login with Patreon

Products

  • BREVITY CARDS FOR ONE-TIME PADS BREVITY CARDS FOR ONE-TIME PADS $24.95
  • Personal Preparedness Assessment Workbook - loose leaf Personal Preparedness Assessment Workbook - loose leaf $24.95
  • Programming Radio Programming Radio $49.95
  • Setup Your MMDVM Setup & Codeplug Setup Your MMDVM Setup & Codeplug $75.00
  • Codeplug development for your AOA Codeplug development for your AOA $249.95
  • Family Emergency Plan Workbook - book format Family Emergency Plan Workbook - book format $24.95
  • Family Emergency Plan Workbook - loose leaf Family Emergency Plan Workbook - loose leaf $24.95
  • Preparedness Mind Map (16x24) 2022 updates Preparedness Mind Map (16x24) 2022 updates $19.95
  • PREP-CON Mind Map (16x24) 2022 version PREP-CON Mind Map (16x24) 2022 version $19.95

Login with Patreon

Login with Patreon

Log In

Login with Patreon

Search Site

Recent Posts

  • Mapping DMR Repeaters
  • Communications Resiliency
  • COMMUNICATIONS RESILIENCY
  • Personal Preparedness Assessment Workbook
  • Getting The Message Through

Site Map

  • About
    • Testimonials
    • The Why
    • Vision and Mission
  • Affiliate Programs
  • Angery American
  • Blog
    • Being Prepared for Civil Unrest
    • Boomer – The Journey
      • Day 1 – The Journey Home
      • Day 2 – First Day in the New Home
      • Day 3 – More Training
      • Day 4 – Dad Goes Back to Work
      • Day 5 – A Day at Home with More Training with Dad (Boomer’s version)
      • Day 6 – More Training with Dad at Home
      • Day 7 – Dad Goes Back to Work, Boring Day
    • Is Ham Radio Dead in California?
    • Live 2021-01-26
    • Members Only Live Videos
    • The Art of Being Prepared – The New Prepper
  • Book of Knowledge
    • Animals
    • Bags etc.
      • Bug Out versus Get Home Bags
      • Get Home and Bug Out Bags
      • Get Home Bag – Contents
      • Get Home Bag – video
    • Communications
      • Amateur (HAM) Radio
        • Amateur Radio Learning Resources
        • Are You Expired?
        • Baofeng/BTECH Radios Quick Guide
          • A User’s User Manual for Baofeng Radios
          • Manually Programming a Baofeng Radio – Video
        • DMR Programming
        • DMR PROGRAMMING – ROAMING
        • DMR Programming – Talk Groups
        • Finding a Ham Exam
          • HAM Exam Accommodation
        • Getting Into Ham Radio – Video
        • Ham Radio on a Budget
        • HF Communications
          • HF Antennas
          • Short Wave Scanning
          • Simple Antenna Builds for HF – video
        • How to Obtain Your Amateur Radio License
        • Mobile Communications
        • Portable Radio Kit
        • What Radio to Buy?
          • What Radio to Buy? – video
        • Why You Should Upgrade to a General Ham License
      • Analog versus Digital
      • Communications Continuity Programs and Capabilities
      • Communications Knowledge Library
        • AmRRON RESOURCES & REFERENCES
        • CTCSS and DCS
        • Radio Etiquette, Jargon, and Best Practices
      • Communications Options
      • Communications P.A.C.E.
      • COMMUNICATIONS REFERENCES
        • Anytone Programmable Keys
        • COMMUNICATIONS RESOURCES – pdf download
        • FRS / GMRS / MURS Frequency Card
      • Communications Resiliency
      • Communications Security (COMSEC)
        • Book Cipher
        • Communications Security (COMSEC)
        • Decrypting One Time Pad Message
        • One Time Pad Training
        • One Time Pads (OTP)
        • One Time Pads (OTP) Live Video
      • Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) Networks
      • DMR UPDATES
      • Encryption in DMR Radios
      • Family or Group Communications Plan – The Basics
        • Communications Plan Annex
        • SHTF HF Communications
      • Finding Information for Your Communications Plan
      • Florida Digital Amateur Radio Network (F-DARN)
      • HEARS – Hospital Emergency Amateur Radio System
      • MESSAGE HANDLING
        • Date Time Group (DTG)
        • Formatted Messages
        • NTS Radiogram Form
          • ARL Numbered Radiograms
        • Phonetics
        • Procedure Words (Prowords)
      • MMDVM and Yaesu System Fusion (YSF)
      • MMDVM Hotspot
      • New England Digital Emergency Communications Network (NEDECN)
      • Other Radio Services
        • Satellite Communications
      • Personal Radio Services
        • Family Radio Service (FRS)
        • FCC Rules for Personal Radio Services
        • General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS)
          • Getting a GMRS License
        • GMRS Repeaters
        • Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS)
      • Phonetics
      • PRN DMR Network
      • Programming Radios with Software
      • Radio over LTE (internet)
      • Radio Services
      • SC Hospital Emergency Amateur Radio Team (SCHEART)
      • Signals Operating Instructions (SOI)
      • Southeast Florida DMR Repeater Network W2GGI
      • Stump Knocker
      • Virginia AWS DMR Network
      • Virginia DMR (DMRVA)
      • Wired Communications
        • MAG Phone System
      • WR3IRS Interstate DMR Network
        • DelMarVa
        • North East PA (NE PA)
        • South Central PA (SC PA)
        • Southern MD (S MD)
        • Washington-Baltimore (W-B)
        • West Central Florida (WCF)
    • Food
      • Buying in Bulk
      • FOOD PRESERVATION RESOURCES
      • Food Storage Quick Start
      • Why You Should Start a Food Storage Plan
    • Intelligence
      • Communications Intelligence (COMINT)
        • Communications Continuity Programs and Capabilities
        • Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS)
      • Electronic Counter-Surveillance
      • Operations Security (OPSEC)
      • Signals Intelligence – Information Gathering Basics
      • Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) – the basics
    • Medical
      • Immediate Care – Rapid Assessment
      • Medical Kits
        • BooBoo & IFAK Kit Mind Map
        • BooBoo and IFAK Kits Video
        • Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK)
        • Large Kit
      • Medical Myths
        • Medical Myths – Ingested Poisoning
      • Medical Myths – Tampons
    • Navigation & Signalling
      • Emergency Signaling
      • Sketched Strip Map
    • Planning
      • Family Contingency Binder
        • Family Contingency Binder MindMap
      • Family Emergency Plan – The Basics
        • Family Emergency Plan
          • Family Emergency Planning Form
      • Inventory Tracking
      • Mutual Assistance Group
      • Planning Your Preps
        • Charity in Planning
      • Preparedness Conditions – PREP-CON
      • Preparedness Conditions (PREP-CON) MindMap
      • Triggers
        • Continuity of Government (COGCON)
        • Information Operations Conditions (INFOCON)
        • Space Weather
    • Power
      • UPS
    • Threat Assessment
      • Area Intelligence
        • Civil Unrest – Area Intelligence
        • Civil Unrest – Be Prepared
        • Civil Unrest – Defense
      • Community Intelligence
      • Weather Awareness
    • Transportation
      • Improvised Transportation
      • Preparedness For Winter Travel
      • Transportation Plan B
    • Water
  • Bullets Both Ways
  • CB Frequency Card
  • Cell Sites and Their Services
  • Checkout
  • Civil Unrest – Defense (part 2)
  • Colorado Ready
  • Contact
    • Mailing List
  • Family Emergency Plan Workbook
    • Bug Out Bag & Bins
    • Communications Plan
    • Emergency Evacuation
    • Emergency Food Supplies
    • Family Contingency Binder
    • Get Home Bag
    • Message Drops
    • Miscellaneous
    • P.A.C.E.
    • Rally Points
    • Vehicle Emergency Supplies
  • FRIENDS – AFFILIATES – PARTNERS
  • HAM Simplex Frequency Card
  • Hazard and Capabilities Assessment Workbook
  • Helping You Protect Your Family
  • Insider
  • Mountain Readiness Fallout Workshops
  • My Account
  • My Cart
  • Optima Batteries
  • Patriot Volunteer Examiner (VE) Team
  • Prepping
  • Resources
    • Amateur Radio Colorado
      • Colorado Linked Repeater Systems
    • General Resources
    • MEDICAL REFERENCES
  • Services
    • Business Resiliency
  • Shop
  • Signal Stuff
  • State Emergency Capability Using Radio Effectively (Operation SECURE)
  • The Patriot Outpost
  • Training
    • One Time Pad (OTP) Exercises
      • 45662
    • Training Videos
©2025 Fortune Favors the Prepared | Built using WordPress and Responsive Blogily theme by Superb

PERSONAL PREPAREDNESS ASSESSMENT WORKBOOK NOW IN STORE - bundle with the Family Emergency Plan and use "bundle" discount code. .Get your MMDVM while they are still available. Join Stump Knocker net Monday evenings.